I would not say that artists are overpaid. Their share of the revenues is appallingly low. Do some reading, for example, on how ASCAP distributes royalties to songwriters. Most of their members never see a dime from their songs. BMI is somewhat more fair, but not much.
What artists should be doing is leaving the labels in drove and self-distributing their work. (The problem with already signed artists is that if they left, they would in many cases also lose performance rights to their own music!) That way, if they only charged, say, $5 per CD, they would be making about $4 per impression, instead of the $1 per impression they get now. Under such a system, many of the artists could stand a reduction in sales volume due to the lack of promotional budget and could still see an increase in net revenue. Plus they would retain the rights to their music.
The future belongs to the independent artist. The big conglomerates know this, which is why they keep frantically petitioning Congress to extend copyright protection. What is it now, 97 years after the death of the artist or something absurd like that? And Congress keeps shamefully abetting their greed.
It pleases me that people are starting to revolt against this abuse by closing their pocketbooks.